To say legions of people were outraged would be an understatement…but why? I mean, seriously? Why do folks purport to be so deeply offended by a nipple and continue to demand images of women's bodies be censored?

That's at the crux of
Free The Nipple, an equality movement that stands against female oppression and censorship and campaigns for a more balanced system of censorship and legal rights for all women to breastfeed in public.

Men haven't always been able to go shirtless. Religious individuals in the 1900s banned all nipples in public places.
In 1935, 42 men were arrested for going topless in Atlantic City. The male population protested, and the male topless ban was subsequently lifted in 1936.
“Suddenly a man's nipples were no longer 'obscene' in society, but rather commonplace and natural," according to The Huffington Post.
That's fine and dandy. There's nothing wrong with a little nipple, right?
Well, apparently there is — as long as it's a female nipple.
It's an everyday occurrence for a male to go without a shirt, but it's still illegal for women to go topless in 35 states.